Stability and Bonding in Metal, Carbon, and Semiconductor Clusters

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Professor Gingerich is supported by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to study the thermodynamic stabilities of metal, carbon, and semiconductor clusters. Thermodynamic properties of small inorganic clusters will be determined from high temperature equilibrium measurements with a Knudsen effusion cell mass spectrometer. Systems studied will include diatomic transition metals, carbides and nitrides, and clusters of metals, carbon, silicon, germanium and inter-group IV compounds. Bond energies and enthalpies of formation will be derived from the measured reaction enthalpies. For selected molecules the equilibrium measurements will be complemented by theoretical calculations and matrix isolation spectroscopic investigations in order to elucidate the molecular structure and nature of bonding. %%% The proposed investigations will provide much needed fundamental knowledge for refractory materials of applied interest. It is expected that the results obtained from this research will aid the finding of new materials with improved technological properties.